


Puppy Ever After

by misura



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Background Relationships, Fluff, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 16:37:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20567507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: Nymeria delivers a gift for Sansa's first baby girl. Jaime is less than thrilled, Tyrion is amused and Arya is eating something weird.





	Puppy Ever After

Jaime eyed the direwolf pup approach the baby with a certain amount of apprehension. "Is that ... safe?"

"Nah," Arya said. "She's probably going to rip it apart right in front of your eyes. Blood and stuff all over the room." She bit into something star-shaped and purple-with-orange dots.

"It's a family tradition," Sansa said.

Jaime's face expressed polite doubt.

"What? Lannister babies don't get a lion cub to follow them around all day?" Arya asked.

"Have you ever seen a full-grown lion following me around?" Jaime said.

Arya shrugged. "Thought your sister might have chopped its head off or something."

"I would have quite liked a lion, actually," Tyrion said. "To defend me against would-be wrong-doers."

Jaime looked offended. "You had me. I wasn't enough?"

"At some point, a man wants to step out from under his big brother's shadow."

"And into the shadow of a big lion?"

Sansa cleared her throat. "Anyway, it's safe. It's one of Nymeria's own. She's always looked out for Arya, and now one of her children is going to look out for little Catelyn."

The puppy sniffed. The baby cooed.

"So, Arya. Back from your travels to exotic countries no one's ever seen before?" Tyrion asked. "Here to come celebrate the birth of your little niece, the next Lady of Winterfell and Queen in the North?"

Arya snorted. "I thought there'd be more of them by now."

"Babies don't just pop out, you know," Sansa said, flushing. "They take a lot of work."

"For women, at least. For us men, it's hardly any work at all," Tyrion put in.

Jaime gave him a long look.

"I'm going to be the fun uncle," Tyrion said. "As opposed to you. Clearly, you're going to be the over-protective uncle who won't let little Catelyn have any fun. Scaring off all the boys, that sort of thing."

"How'd that work out for you the first time?" Arya asked. "Being the 'fun' uncle?"

"Arya!"

Arya shrugged, taking another bite. "I'm just saying."

"What _are_ you eating?" Jaime asked. "I've never seen anything like it before."

Arya examined the fruit in her hand. "What, this? We haven't thought of a name for it yet. Might be poisonous. Who knows? If I fall over dead, I guess it was."

"She's joking," Sansa said. "And it's not funny."

"Well, it was a little bit funny," Tyrion said.

The baby sneezed. The pup whined. Jaime looked like he was considering which one of them to snatch away first.

Sansa rolled her eyes and picked up the baby, the pup staring after it with a forlorn expression.

Arya made a choking sound and fell over, clawing at her throat.

"Can I try one?" Tyrion asked. "They do look delicious."

"Is she really all right?" Jaime sounded concerned.

"Arya's fine. She's only play-acting. You should just ignore her like the rest of us."

"I meant the baby," Jaime said.

"Nice come-back," Tyrion complimented. "Almost quick enough to be convincing, and of course, it's very natural to be worried about a poor, helpless baby with such a fierce protectress."

"I really did mean the baby. She sneezed. You all heard her."

Sansa smiled at him. "She's fine. Don't worry. Babies sneeze sometimes."

"One of these days, I really am going to be poisoned and you'll all feel sorry when you discover I'm dead," Arya said.

"If that's a concern, perhaps you should pretend less often. It makes people callous," Tyrion commented.

"Still got him, didn't I?" Arya nodded in Jaime's direction.

"My brother has many fine qualities, but being a quick learner is not among them," Tyrion said.

Jaime's expression was faintly hurt. "I always hated it when Father used to say that."

"Nobody's perfect," Sansa said. "You're good at plenty of other things."

"Thank you, Lady Sansa." Jaime inclined his head.

"We're very formal all of a sudden. And yet, no wedding plans? I do so worry about my brother falling in with the wrong kind of woman yet again. It is a thought that haunts me, day and night." Tyrion sighed. "Not that I blame you, of course. I mean, he's handsome, he's charming, he's reasonably intelligent, he's tolerably rich. A hard sell, really."

"He's sitting right here," Jaime said.

The pup sneezed.

"There. See? And you were worried about little Cat." Tyrion's tone was triumphant. "Clearly, it is the direwolf you should have been worried about."

"The pup's fine. The baby's fine. Arya's fine. We're all of us fine, and we'll continue to be so," Sansa said.

"If there's wine, I'd be happy to drink to that," Tyrion said. "Oh, and I'd like to volunteer my brother for baby-watching duties. It takes a true hero to change a diaper, and the gods know I am not a hero."


End file.
